Carton



May 12, 1 942. F. H. GROVES CARTON Filed June 29, 1939 i. Eiiiiilii! $202216 5 5%MWMM Patented May 12, 1942 UNITED STATES PATENT OFFICE CARTON Frederick H. Groves, Dormont," Pa.

Application June 29, 1939, Serial No; 281,872 2 claims. (01. 229-41) My invention relates to destructible containers,

particularly to tamper-proof cartons and boxes that must be broken or torn in order to gain access to the contents.

In Letters Patent of the United States No.

2,052,402, granted to'me August 25, 1936, I illustrate and describe a carton consisting of two paper-board body members that are assembled telescopically. Each of such body members of the carton is provided internally with a pair of locking elements, and the locking elements on one member are complementary in structure to those on the'other member, so that, when the two members are assembled, the locking elements are in-.

terengaged and the carton is locked in closed position. In order to reach the contents of the as- 'sembled and locked carton, it is necessary to tear member of the carton are adjustable between alternate positions: In one position of adjustment the locking elements on one body member of the carton engage the complementary locking elements on the other body-member, and lock the carton in the manner mentioned; and in alternateposition of adjustment the locking elements of the two body members do not enter engageeither in locked or in unlocked condition, without adjusting the locking elements. For practical reasons it is desirable that the locking elements shall be installed on the carton members inpermanent positions, in positions that require no adjustment of the elements in order to prepare the carton for locked assembly, and such desideratum is realized in the structure of this invention.

A carton embodying the invention is illustrated in the accompanying drawing, in which Fig. I

is a view in perspective of the basal member of the carton, with the cover flap with which it is provided shown in open position, and Fig. II is a like view of the cover member of the carton, posi- .tioned top downward, and shown with a portion of its side wall or flange broken away, more cleariv to show one of the internal locking elements carried thereby. Fig. III is a view to smaller scale, showing the basal member of the carton in plan from above, with its cover flap in closed position. Fig. IV is a view to larger scale than Figs. I and 11, showing in cross section the assembled carton in closed and locked position, and Fig. V is a fragmentary sectional view, on the plane VV of Fig. IV, of the locked carton, showing one of the two pairs of interengaged locking'elements in vertical section. Fig. VI is a View comparable with Fig. IV, showing the carton assembled in unlocked condition, and Fig. VII is a view showing the locking element carried by the basal member.

' Referring to the drawing the carton, in'which I have chosen in exemplary way'to describe y invention, consists in a basal member land a 'cover member 2, provided with continuous side walls 3 and 4, respectively, and adapted to be assembled telescopically to provide'a closed conessentially, provided with a cover flap 5 that is hinged to, and in this case continuous with, one ofthe longitudinal side walls or flanges 3 of such basal member. The flap 5 forms in the assembled carton, an internal cover or shield for the contents of the assembled carton. Additionally, it provides reinforcement, such that the carton members may be constructed of lighter gage press-board than would otherwise be feasible; The locking elements that are embodied in the carton structure consist in two male members 6, '6 and twofemale members 1,. 1, formed of sturdy yet light sheet metal, such as tin-plate.

The'female locking elements I, 1 are applied to the basal member of thecarton, and the male elements 6, 6 to the cover member; More specifically, the female locking elements are riveted one to the internal surface of each of the opposite end walls or flanges of 3 the basal member of the carton, and the male'locking elementsare "riveted to the inner surface of the top 20, of'th'e cover member of the carton.

1 'The means for riveting or securing the locking elements to the carton walls may consist in tan'gs formed in the bodies of the locking elements themselves. As described in Letters Patent No. 2,100,644, granted to me'on November 30, 193'7,'the

.body of each locking element may be pierced at several points 8'with a pointed instrument, providing rosettes 9 (Fig. VII) whose tangs 10 are pressed through and'clinched upon the wall portion of the carton, upon which the element is to be mounted, thus effectively riveting the locking element to the body of the carton.

Eachfemale element 1 consists in a flat body portion, to which the reference numeral .1 is immediately applied, an'd a portion 141. that, deflected from the plane of portion 1, forms with the immediately adjacent portion of the wall or flange 3 of the basal member I a socket that is open at top and bottom. The portions 1a of the female locking elements are so particularly shaped that carton body members I and 2 are assembled and locked.

Each of the male looking elements consists in V r v a base portion (to which reference numeral 6- is immediately applied) and a hook portion (to which the reference character 6a is applied). The hook portion extends perpendicularly -to -the base portion. As secured to the internal or under surface of the cover member, the.- locking elements. 6 are arranged with their hook portions standing at .an interval from and parallel to the transverse side walls or flanges of the cover member, in such positions that, when the carton is assembled with the cover in one of the alternate positions of assembly "presently to be described, the male hook portions (60.) severally enter the downwardly convergent sockets formed by and between the female locking elements and the. transverse side wallsof the. basal member of the carton. As the cover member is pressed telescopically downward over the basal member of the carton, and hook portions'fia are'forced downward. in said sockets, and, when the carton reaches fully assembled position, the hooked ends of" male portions 6a move inward, into engagementwith the lower edges of the portions la. of the female locking elements. Note Figs. IV and V. Such engagement of the two pairs of locking elements provides the desired tamper-proof locking of the closed carton.

It may be mentioned that the opening at the bottom of each convergent socket, formed by a female locking element and the carton wall, is narrower (as viewed in Fig. V) than the hooked end of 'the male locking element. When the carton members are being telescopically assembled and the male elements are being forced "downward in the convergent sockets, the wall in Fig. VI.

are disposed at an interval to one side of the longitudinal center line of the carton basal member, while the male locking elements 6, 6 are arranged an equal interval to one side of the longitudinal center line of the carton cover member. Thus, the cover member may be telescopically assembled with the basal member, either in aposition in which the male elements enter and engage the female elements, as shown in Fig. IV, or in a position in which the male elements stand removed from the female elements, as indicated In Figs. I and III, it will be noted that the opposite side edges of the cover flap 5 are recessed, as at 50, 50, to provide when the carton is assembled clearance for the entrance of the male. locking members, either into engagement with the female locking elements (Fig; IV), or into the alternate position (Fig..VI) in which the locking elements stand apart, with the carton adapted to be opened at will.

I have used the words male and female to differentiate one locking element from the other, and these words: are to be construed in such light, and not as wordsof limitation. Within the terms and intent of the appended-claims, numerous modifications of the illustrated structure are permissible.

I claim as my invention:

1. In a rectangular telescopic carton comprising a basal body member and a cover member, each having two end walls and two side walls, said basal and cover members adapted to be telescopically assembled to provide a rectangular carton of relatively shallow depth with respect to its length, said basal member carrying on'its portions of the carton facing or opposed to the portions Ia of the female locking elements yield outward a sufficient interval, to admit of the downward passage of the hooked ends of the male elements. As the distal ends of such hooked ends reach the lower edges of the portions la of the female locking elements, the hooked limbs Ba of the male elements are, under the lateral pressure exerted thereon by said outwardly flexed wall portions of the carton, moved inward into, and held in, carton-lockingengagement with the female elements. Such is the manner inwhich the locking elements on the two carton members cooperate to lock the carton in closed or assembledposition.

Turning now to a more specific consideration of the organization of" the locking elements: It will be understood that the cover member of any rectangular telescopic carton may be assembled upon the carton basal member in either of two alternate positions, merely by turning the cover member from end to end through 180' degrees. Noting this circumstance, I' have applied the locking elements off-center, in such relative positions that the assembled carton may, without disturbing the locking elements; be locked, or not, as desired. More specifically, it will be perceived that the female locking elements l, I

opposite end walls severally two female locking elements, the two female locking elements being located on suchend walls adjacent to the opposite ends of one. of'the two. side walls with which such endwalls are united, with the effect that said female locking elements are arranged at an interval from andon one side of the vertical midplane that extends between and through said end walls of the basal member, said' cover member carrying two male locking elements located severally. adjacent to the opposite ends. of the side wall of the cover member that corresponds to the last-mentioned side wall of said basal member, said male looking elements being so positioned that they are adapted, when the carton is assembled, telescopically to engage the female locking elements carried by the end walls of said basal'portion, said male lockingelements being arranged at an interval from the vertical midplane of the cover memberv that in the assembled carton. is' coincident with the" abovementioned'midplane of said basel'member, with thexefiect that: said body members may be assembled in either of alternate positions and said complementary locking elements brought into carton-locking engagement orn'ot.

2. The structureof claim 1; inwhich one of said carton body membersicarries an inner flap including elongate recesses that provide clearances effective over extended; intervals for the entrance into such carton member of thelocking elements carried by the other of said carton body members when the two members areassembled in either of saidalternate-positions ofassembly.

FREDERICK- H: GROVES. 

